BYD Sealion 5 ANCAP Safety Test Results Are Surprising

The BYD Sealion 5 has gone through ANCAP’s latest safety testing, and the results reveal a vehicle with strong crash protection but noticeably weaker performance in some of the newer safety categories.

The plug in hybrid medium sport utility vehicle was assessed under ANCAP’s tougher 2026 to 2028 testing criteria. Instead of relying on a single overall percentage, the assessment breaks safety performance into 4 stages. The Sealion 5 achieved 48% for Safe Driving, 51% for Crash Avoidance, 79% for Crash Protection, and 74% for Post Crash performance.

Crash protection was clearly one of its stronger areas. In the side impact test, protection for the driver and rear child occupants earned maximum scores. The centre airbag between the front seats also worked effectively to reduce movement across the cabin and lower the chance of the driver and passenger striking each other during a side collision.

There were weaknesses, however. In the frontal offset test, ANCAP identified a higher injury risk to the driver’s chest and lower legs, along with the front passenger’s neck. The Sealion 5 also received a significant deduction for crash compatibility because of the potential risk it could present to occupants of another vehicle in a head on collision.

Crash avoidance produced mixed results. The autonomous emergency braking system can detect vehicles, motorcycles, cyclists and pedestrians, but its performance varied depending on the situation. Intersection scenarios were a particular weakness, while low speed collision avoidance also scored poorly.

Driver assistance technology showed similar inconsistencies. The driver monitoring system could recognize several common forms of distraction, but it could not detect phone use or intervene if the driver became unresponsive. The vehicle also correctly identified 66% of speed change events during ANCAP’s road assessment.

Post crash performance reached 74%. Rescue information met ANCAP requirements, and multi collision braking and hazard lights activate following a crash. However, there is no automatic emergency call function, and BYD did not demonstrate that the windows would remain operational if the vehicle became submerged.

Overall, the Sealion 5 results show how modern safety testing now examines much more than simply how well a vehicle protects passengers during an impact.